Karasu
by Trisar
Summary: Some people believe that when a person dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. However, when one man's soul cries out for vengeance at his and his wife's death, the crow offers him a second chance... to put things right. DISCONTINUED
1. Prologue: Birth of the Legend

**Karasu**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

I know what you're thinking. "Why is this joker starting another fanfic? Why doesn't he just update Displaced or Strawberry Vacation, or toss out the next chapter of Big Changes?"

The answer is simple. "Angst" and "writer's block." The last chapter of The Techniques Saga ended up far too dark for my tastes, so I decided to write a fic that will allow me to channel that darkfic-ness away from my works. Also, I'm suffering a writer's block on the other fics, but this one practically leapt from my fingertips.

Hmmm... Yeah, anyone who knows Japanese will be able to at least **guess** what this is about, so...

**The Crow** is copyright James O'Barr... not entirely sure of the date, but it's his, not mine.

**Ranma ½** is copyright Rumiko Takahashi. It's hers, not mine.

Prior knowledge of "The Crow" is not necessary to enjoy this fic, though if you didn't **like** The Crow, you don't want to read _Karasu_. Prior knowledge of _Ranma ½_, however, **is** required to enjoy this fic. Of course, you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't have at least a passing familiarity with the series, I hope.

Now let's see what happens when I combine the two while eating homemade Texas-style chili.

**Scenes may contain excessive violence and/or sexual suggestions. Not for the consumption of children, adults, animals of any age, and/or humans. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do.**

Try not to take that too literally.

* * *

Prologue: Birth of the Legend

* * *

_People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. And sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right._

Fire and smoke engulfed the city. On this night, sin reigned supreme, man seeking to hurt his fellow man. Pain and death were everywhere to be found, and those left untouched by the sins of others felt backlash as it touched their family.

Such were the thoughts of Nabiki Tendo as she clutched desperately at the hand of her older sister Kasumi, wishing that all those manga were real; that Sailor Moon would swoop in and save the day, putting out these terrible flames and healing those who had fallen; wishing that she could have healing powers, perhaps to save her sister with, and wishing that Dragonballs were real, so that she might restore life to he who had fallen.

"Sister," wheezed Kasumi, her hand spasming to Nabiki's as her stretcher was lifted up. Nabiki ran with the medics, not willing to let go. "Where... is he?" she said, coughing into her oxygen mask.

"He's... he's fine sis... and you'll be fine too!" replied Nabiki, though she could see the truth reflected in the medics' eyes. Her tears made that truth so much more real, so much more condemning. Kasumi was going to die, and all they could do, at best, was make her last moments more comfortable.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you have to let her go now," said one of the medics, patting Nabiki's wrist reassuringly. "We'll call you as soon as she can accept visitors."

"Thank you," she replied, her voice thick with emotion. She backed away, watching as the ambulance closed up and sped off into the night.

"You lied to her," said a nearby detective. His tone wasn't accusing. If anything, it was actually sympathetic. "Twice," he added as an afterthought.

"I know... Believe me, I know..."

Overhead, unseen in the blackness of the sky and amidst the smoke, a crow flapped its wings.

---

Worldwide media services greedily pounced on this day that Tokyo burned. Arson and property destruction was reported to be on a scale not seen since World War II, and there were several speculative anchors who dropped the term 'Japanese Devil's Night,' as it had all occurred on October 30th—ringing eerily synonymous to similar burnings that had happened in Detroit just a few years ago.

One Nodoka Saotome was saddened as she gazed at the obituaries a local newspaper printed and distributed in the Nerima district. Ranma Saotome, killed on what those in America knew as 'Devil's Night' by a combination of brutalization, several gunshot wounds, and smoke inhalation. The obituary went on to note that Saotome had died nobly, protecting the one he loved.

If the notation of her son's death was the knife in her heart, the second entry twisted the cruel blade. Kasumi Saotome, also killed on Devil's Night, struggled and clung to life for an excruciating 170 hours after the death of her husband, Ranma Saotome. Despite numerous cuts, severe blunt trauma, smoke inhalation, and critical internal bleeding, Kasumi had struggled until her body, finally exhausted of all the fight in it, had given up.

Unwritten in the article, however, was something that drove a second knife into Nodoka's heart when she read the official copy of the death certificate.

Kasumi had been pregnant—apparently, with twins. Twins who had, like their mother, clung to life despite the numerous shocks and jars the womb had taken, but whose lives had been cut short before they could begin when their mother died with them.

Nodoka had known about her coming grandchildren—Ranma and Kasumi had been incredibly proud that they would be providing her and Soun Tendo with such joys, and had been bound and determined to raise the children right.

_But now it will never be..._ thought Nodoka, a tear rolling down her cheek as she sealed the death certificates of her daughter-in-law and son, as well as the clippings from their obituaries, into a small urn that she set on her shelf.

A noisy fluttering brought her attention to a large black bird that landed on her window. As a traditionalist, and an incredibly superstitious one at that, Nodoka recognized the bird at once as a crow. The bird turned its head, fixing a beady eye on her, and let out a single raucous "caw!" before flying away.

"An omen," realized Nodoka, as she wondered what it would mean.

---

Time passed as it was wont to do. All too soon, the "Japanese Devil's Night" as it was popularized became forgotten in the minds of most, though in the hearts of those who had lost someone or who had been personally touched by it, the night was never forgotten.

October 20th of the year following that burning tragedy rolled around. A black crow flitted over Honshu, its flight taking it to Tokyo. It fluttered into a small burial site, not quite large enough to be called even a small cemetery, and found itself a perch on one headstone in particular.

_Ranma Saotome_

_Born 2-14-1973, Deceased 10-30-1995_

_A true martial artist to the end._

_Survived by his father, mother, and two sisters-in-law._

Thunder rumbled overhead, and rain began to pour over the grave site, though the bird paid it no mind, staring intently down at the dirt in front of its perch, which was shifting as though something were moving underneath it. It flapped its wings, cawing as if surprised, when a great deal of dirt—as well as a coffin lid—were shoved aside with tremendous force. A black haired young man, clad only in tattered, shredded pants and with his raven locks strewn about his face and bare shoulders, pulled himself out of the grave, clawing desperately for purchase in the soaking dirt.

As he finally freed himself from the earthy prison, he propped himself up, his stomach heaving emptily as if to vomit, but lacking anything to upheave. His body shuddered and trembled with cold, a cold he knew was that of the grave, of death he could still feel the chill fingers of. Buried in his soul near this death-cold chill was a blazing heat, a wrath he lacked explanation for.

The crow cawed again, calling his attention. As he turned to it, it fluttered off, finding a new perch and turning to him pointedly. Realization dawned, and he stumbled to his feet, awkwardly following after the bird and nearly tripping over himself between clumsiness and the slick mud on his bare feet. As he approached the crow and, more importantly, the entrance to the graveyard, the black bird left its perch, flying to a new one at the torii gate to the shrine just nearby.

Finding somewhat firmer footing on the stone walk of the shrine, the disheveled man stumbled forward, walking toward the torii with slowly steadying feet. As expected, when he got close enough, the crow flapped off to a new perch, this time down the stairs of the shrine. Instead of immediately following though, he leaned against one of the legs of the archway, steadying himself. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head up as lightning flashed overhead, illuminating his cold, ice blue eyes.

With renewed strength, he dashed down the stairs, and this time when the bird took off, he kept up. His feet splashed in the tiny puddles left on the sidewalks and streets as he followed, until finally the bird led him up to a burned ruin of a house. The windows had all been smashed, and carbon scoring showed clearly where flames had eagerly licked for anything to consume in their pyre. Yet somehow it was familiar.

'His' crow, as he had come to think of it, fluttered up to the roof, perching steadily and easily on it as the rain lightened into a faint drizzle, before fading fully away, leaving only the overcast sky and occasional rumble of thunder.

Firming his resolve, he stepped forward, seeing the front door of the house removed, the doorway blocked by several planks and wooden bars. With a careful precision, he managed to find two of the boards that had rotted enough to be weakened, and pried them off, allowing him access. As expected, the inside of the house was dark, the lights from the street outside casting eerie shadows throughout the rooms where they entered the windows.

Images flickered in his mind as he searched through the rooms, finally stumbling upon one in particular. Blood stained the floor and walls, and several pockmark holes also had a home in the walls and ceiling. A bed lay in one corner, white sheets stained by fire, fluid, and time, sliced apart as if in some violent rage.

Guided by some unknown memory, he walked over to another object that caught his attention. A full vanity mirror, complete with several makeup kits strewn about, lay almost untouched near the bed. The mirror itself was broken but not shattered, and he could still see his own reflection in it. His hand, led by the images tickling his mind, reached under the vanity set, finding some hidden latch and turning it, and then pressing against this hidden compartment and dragging his hand back, revealing a secret drawer in the vanity.

Inside this drawer, untouched by flame or time, lay two books—journals, he reasoned. One with a red cover had the name 'Ranma' emblazoned on it in fancy Western lettering. Ranma. "Ranma," he said aloud, his voice hoarse as if from disuse. "That's... me... my name... it's Ranma..." Of course it was his name, that was what was on that gravestone over the dirt and coffin he fought his way out of.

The other book, this with a soft blue covering, transfixed him. In the same lettering style, emblazoned on it was the name 'Kasumi.'

Kasumi...

_Kasumi._

Sounds and pictures flickered into his head, causing him to groan and clutch at his temples as he fell to his knees.

_"Kasumi!" called Ranma, stepping into the bedroom as she sat at the vanity, brushing her hair. "Breakfast is almost ready, what're you still doing here?"_

_"I can't decide what to wear, Ranma-kun," she replied. "After all, it's not every day I'll get to tell Aunt, no, **Mother** Nodoka that I'm going to give her grandchildren, is it?"_

_"Not for lack of trying," he replied with a smirk, tickling her abdomen and causing her to squirm, giggling._

Kasumi.

His wife.

His wife! The mother of his unborn children!

The woman he loved!

_"Kasumi," whispered Ranma quietly, kissing her on the forehead as they lay entwined in their bed. "I love you. Don't ever forget that."_

_"I couldn't, even if I wanted to. I could never forget... I love you too."_

How could he have forgotten her? The scent of her hair? The taste of her lips? Their first time together...

_"YES! I DID IT!" whooped Ranma, turning toward his wife after reading the letter in his hands, wrapping her up in a great big hug and beginning to twirl her around, much to her delight._

_"What did you do?" she giggled._

_"I got accepted into Tokyo U! Can you believe it? ME! The dummy martial arts jock of Furinkan, a Toudai student!"_

_Kasumi gasped in quiet elation, returning the hug with interest and evicting a quiet 'oomph' from her husband. "That's great! I always knew you could do it! Besides, no husband of mind would be just a 'dummy martial arts jock.' I'd just challenge him to an Anything-Goes Martial Arts Culinary Battle and he'd be a master chef in a week!"_

_"Hmph! Gimme a little credit. I'd do it in five days."_

_"Kasumi!"_

_"Kasumi."_

_"Kasumi..."_

That day... a year ago... it was a year ago, just shy a week or so...

He'd come home from a long day of classes to find the front door ajar. Kasumi never left the door open like that—one of the quirks he learned quickly about his wife was that she was a real neat freak, and that it wasn't just an act that she put on at the Tendo dojo—which immediately alerted him to something being very wrong.

_"Kasumi?" he yelled, looking into the kitchen. Nothing. Panicking, he reached out with his trained senses, feeling her and several **very** hostile presences in their bedroom. This time, he bellowed her name, charging in their direction while already focusing a ball of hard ki into his hands. Whoever dared hurt his wife would pay!_

_He slammed the door open with his elbow, quickly assessing the situation. Two large men held Kasumi at knife-point, two smaller men held bottles filled with a clear liquid that had rags stuffed in them, and a fifth man..._

_**BLAM!**_

_As the bullet made a home in his belly, Ranma realized that he'd analyzed the situation far too slowly. However, the shot apparently missed his vitals and was a very small bullet. He'd taken worse from Kuno than a small shell to the right of his navel. Focusing on the man who shot him, Ranma yelled out his rage and thrust his hands forward, unleashing the ki blast he'd been holding, which knocked the poor fool to the ground._

_"Bastard!" yelled one of the men with the bottles, whipping out his own gun as two others of his comrades did the same. Even as they opened fire, he charged forward, causing the judgment of their shots to be off just enough to continue to miss his vitals, though these bullets were larger than those of the first one and ripped big holes in him._

_His first, and only, strike knocked one of the knife-holders to the floor, stunning him as he lost his grip on both knife and gun. As he prepared to follow up the strike, awareness flickered on the edge of his consciousness._

_**BLAM!**_

_Blood sprayed from his body liberally as his world exploded in pain up and down his back. He could feel every individual hole that had just been made in his body, and knew it was only his incredible toughness and the distance from the shot that had kept him from being torn in half. His vision swam as he pirouetted, but before he could focus on his assailant enough to identify them, more shots slammed into him from all sides, and a second shot from the big gun knocked him to the floor._

_"He's still alive!" exclaimed one of the men, unbelieving._

_"Not for long. He'll bleed out. Still, no point takin' chances. Burn the place, just like we planned, but start here instead."_

_Heat and the smell of burning sake soon greeted his nose, and he would have recoiled if he were capable of anything except shallow breathing. He couldn't even feel the pain of all his gunshot wounds anymore, and knew his time was shortly to come._

_"Ka... su... mi..." he tried to whisper, barely able to mouth the words, before the darkness engulfed him._

"**AAAARRRRGHHH!!!**" Ranma bellowed, stumbling away from his wife's untarnished vanity to a nearby window. Gripping the frame to steady himself, he recoiled and his mind found a new focus as pain pierced his mind. The jagged glass still present on the window frame had, he noted, sliced very deeply into his palms.

But even as the blood flowed, the wounds sealed up, vanishing as if they were never there.

"What am I... What the hell happened... I died... I **died!** **WHY AM I STILL ALIVE!?**" he shouted to the heavens.

On the roof, 'his' crow cawed.

* * *

**Post Chapter Notes**

Shouldn't be too much to explain here, but...

The villains will be explained later. I already have plans for them, so please, **please** don't send suggestions.

People are likely to be upset that I killed Kasumi, the 'untouchable' maiden of Nerima. Live with it.

Finally, a quick explanation.

**Torii** - Torii are the traditional gates of 'jinja,' or Shinto shrines. Just run a Google image search or look on Wikipedia for a picture of one if you haven't already. Also can be considered a pun on word sounds, as "torii" and "tori," the Japanese words for "shrine gate" and "bird" respectively, sound very similar (with "torii" simply having an elongated verb sound).

**Karasu** - For those not quite fluent in Japanese, "karasu" is the Japanese word for "crow."

Well, that's that. See you next mission.


	2. Chapter One: Resurrection

**Karasu**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

It's amazing, but... well, I actually don't have a rant for my readership.

Sorry to disappoint you. Instead, you'll get the Trisar-brand CAW (Content Advisory Warning).

**DANGER, DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER! THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!**

* * *

Chapter one: Resurrection

* * *

_Revenge is a dish best served cold. Isn't that how that old western saying goes?_ thought Nabiki Tendo, shivering in her light jacket as she plodded through the rain. _Maybe tonight's a lucky night for vengeance._ Uncontrollably, she shivered again. The day had already been chilly, but the night was worse, and the sudden rain brought the frigidness of graveyard frost.

Nabiki was a creature of information. She had been ever since the loss of her mother, being too uninformed and underfunded to do anything to help her. Her father had been even worse than her, drowning his sorrows in sake and trying to pretend as though nothing was wrong. She'd sworn on the day of her mother's death that she would never let a lack of information cost her her family again.

_But I broke that vow... I broke the vow I made in my mother's name... Because I still don't know the who and why of those people who killed Kasumi and Ranma,_ she thought with a scowl. The how had been obvious. She'd seen the cuts and bruises all over Kasumi's body as she watched her sister struggle to breathe after the smoke had damaged her lungs so badly. She hadn't been able to see Ranma's body where it had fallen—the investigators and medics had already shrouded his corpse and taken it to a morgue.

Nabiki frowned as she saw where she was. While in the midst of her reverie, she'd walked to the old house that Ranma and Kasumi had moved into after their marriage. "I shouldn't be here," she sighed. "I wonder why the place hasn't been torn down yet... The detectives still trying to say there might be evidence? Maybe if they could find Ranma's or Kasumi's diaries..."

Her introspection was cut off by a piercing scream of what could only be purest agony erupting from the house. Following it was another scream, this one containing words. "**WHY AM I STILL ALIVE!?**" bellowed the voice, prompted Nabiki to quirk an eyebrow. Whoever was in there likely needed help, and while no one who knew her solely from her high school days would believe it, Nabiki wasn't the kind to let someone in need just sit by.

Running toward the condemned house, her analytical mind instantly noted how two of the planks that blocked the front doorway had been moved aside. Squeezing through the small opening was difficult, and in the end she thanked the fact that she had kept up her basic exercise regimen, otherwise she wouldn't have made it through at all. Drawing on the faint memory of the last visit she'd paid the deceased couple when they were still alive, she listened for the voice again.

Hearing sobbing coming down the direction she remembered as the way to the bedroom, she crept down that hallway, peeking at the room. As expected, the door still lay in charred splinters on the ground where it had been smashed in one year prior. Leaning against the wall just below the only window in the room was apparently the man she was looking for. His skin was pale with cold, and gleamed with moisture in the faint light that the streetlights managed to get through the window. His raven hair shone wetly in the light as well, clinging to his bare back and shoulders.

"Hey," she called quietly, noticing that he froze as she spoke. "Do you need help?"

There was a pause as the man apparently considered what to say.

"No... The dead need no help from the living." He stood up, walking over to the closet and sliding it open forcibly. He reached up to the closet ceiling, sliding away a secret panel even as Nabiki watched, held fast by some primal instinct. Reaching into the revealed alcove, he tugged free a fairly sizable box, stepping back from the closet with it and pulling it open. From within the box, the man drew out two articles of clothing—although the light was too poor to accurately guess the color, Nabiki supposed it was either black or a dark blue.

Quickly doffing his wrecked pants, this raven-haired stranger tugged on the dark clothes, which by their own shimmer in the faint light had to be of very fine silk. Nabiki's eyes widened as he turned toward her, a scar clearly visible on his abdomen near his navel. She brought her eyes up to look into his as he pulled the front of the shirt shut, expertly adjusting the ties to hold it closed. Her gut turned to ice as she caught his arctic blue gaze.

---

Ranma frowned as the girl froze after meeting his eyes. Turning away from her, he walked over to his wife's vanity, opening one of the containers of makeup there. An image flashed in his mind of Kasumi using this same jar to paint his face white like a traditional noh mask. The grease paint was still, amazingly enough, fresh enough to be used. He quickly began applying it, turning the already pale hue of his face to a starting alabaster white.

Closing the white jar, he gripped another makeup container and opened it, another image in his mind playing before him, Kasumi showing his female form how to properly apply eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lipstick. Drawing on those living memories, he shaded his eyes with the black eyeliner, then applied lipstick of the same shade. Grinning ferally at his reflection, with shaggy hair and mask-like face, Ranma was surprised when the girl spoke again.

"You're dead...!" she gasped. "I saw your body... I saw the death certificate..."

His guard instantly came up as he turned toward her, searching her for familiarity. A name. He tasted a name on his tongue, and rolled with it. "Nabiki," he said quietly, remembering.

_"Now listen to me good, Ranma-kun. I don't care how good a martial artist you are, if you ever hurt Kasumi, you won't even be able to buy cup ramen within a hundred miles of Tokyo again."_

_"Ranma-kun, one more thing. If you and Kasumi run into any trouble... financial, legal, you name it... call me."_

"Nabiki... I ran into some trouble," he said with a wry, almost sarcastic grin. "You've already hit the big point." His face darkened. "I need information," he continued, shutting the secret drawer in the vanity with his and Kasumi's diaries, then stepping toward Nabiki. Reaching out, he took hold of her face by instinct, and knowledge poured into his mind.

Flash.

_"Kasumi, please! You have to live!" cried Nabiki, pounding impotently at the observation window as she watched the doctors fight to save her sister. "You have to live for Ranma's sake! Please, Kasumi!"_

Flash.

_"I'm sorry ladies... visiting hours are over," said one orderly apologetically._

_"Please, can't we stay just a bit longer?" asked Akane, her voice almost hollow._

_"I can't—" the orderly began, only to be cut off as Nabiki shot a glare at her with such cold ice that even the Snow Woman would have been chilled._

_"She's all we have left," pleaded Akane._

_"All... all right... but please try to leave soon," responded the orderly, quickly shuffling out of the room._

_With the distraction gone, Nabiki returned to watching her dying sister cling to life, barely breathing even with mechanical assistance. The ice in her gaze was gone, leaving only shards in its wake._

Flash.

_"We're losing her," said one doctor, desperately struggling to keep their patient alive._

_"Her body's exhausted. She's not gonna last. Neither are her kids."_

_"With that kind of attitude she won't. I'm not gonna let her die."_

_For an agonizing four hours, Nabiki could only watch as the doctors tried in vain to bring her sister back._

_When the electrocardiogram finally stopped its pulsating beeps, instead releasing one long, steady tone, Nabiki knew it was over. She struggled to control herself as the doctors failed to resuscitate Kasumi, but failed._

_"**NOOOOOO!**"_

"**NOOOOOO!"** yelled Ranma, recoiling from Nabiki, echoing the scream that resounded in her memories. He gasped, shuddering with every breath, while she could only pant heavily at the memories awakened in her.

"What did you...?"

"A hundred and seventy hours... she fought for her life for an entire week... and you were there the whole time..." Ranma shivered, managing to compose himself. "Kasumi... my god, I'm so sorry... I couldn't protect you..."

Nabiki watched as this specter, this phantom of the Ranma she knew huddled in a ball for a moment, before his composure returned and he again stood, the ice-cold wraith he'd been when their eyes had first met, now made all the more eerie by the noh mask appearance of his face.

"I need more information, Nabiki... Do you have any idea who did this?" he asked.

This time, she flinched, glancing away in shame. "Nothing... I've been searching for the entire year and haven't found a damn thing."

Ranma sighed. "Should have known... I don't suppose I could get our rings?" That earned him a confused blink. "What?"

"What rings?" asked Nabiki.

"Our wedding rings. Didn't you get them from the doctors, or weren't they still with us when we were given our funerals?" he asked with a frown.

She could only shake her head. "There weren't any rings. There wasn't even any jewelry of any kind."

**That** got Ranma's attention. "None at all?" he pressed, his frown deepening. And for good reason...

_"Are you sure, Kasumi? I mean, it ain't too girly, is it?" asked Ranma, tugging at the earring Kasumi had suggested he buy—for his male aspect, yet._

_"Ranma-kun, I know you value your masculinity. Trust me, a pierced ear is a very popular thing among western boys. Besides, it makes you dashing."_

_"Really?" Ranma honestly didn't see how the small black hoop of iron in his earlobe could possibly make him dashing, but if Kasumi said so..._

"None at all," Nabiki confirmed, drawing him out of his reverie. "No rings, none of Kasumi's earrings when she moved here, nothing. Even the vanity was empty except for all that makeup. Whoever they were, they even stole a bunch of your clothes. Chinese silk gets a pretty good price in Japan."

"A pawn shop," interrupted Ranma.

"What?"

"They'd pawn that stuff off. None of it has any value to a collector, plus they'd be hot items for anyone who knew us."

Nabiki stared at Ranma incredulously for a moment, earning an annoyed glare in return. "Err, sorry," she said. "It's just... I thought Kasumi was **joking** when she said you'd been accepted to Tokyo University only a few weeks before... well, you know... now I'm not so sure. What were you planning on majoring in?"

Ranma grinned as he stepped past Nabiki, causing her to shiver as if Death himself had just brushed her. "Ironically, criminal investigation," he replied as she stepped in behind him. "So, pawn shops? Where's the nearest one that would take anything from shady types, no questions asked?"

"Narakino's, just a few blocks down the road," she replied, with almost no hesitation. "I'm not the 'Ice Queen' of Furinkan High anymore," she replied in response to his suspicious look. "I also happen to be employed by a very well known law firm as a defense attorney. Narakino is as corrupt as they come, and my firm is usually the one he calls to keep his ass out of the fire. I've never been personally assigned to him, thankfully, but I do have contacts."

Ranma nodded in understanding, slipping deftly between the hole he'd made in the boards at his front door. Nabiki quickly followed, only to jump back with a squeak as a large and rather ugly black bird fluttered down to Ranma's shoulder with a loud "caw!"

"Wha! What... why do you have that big bird on your shoulder, Ranma?" she asked, managing to get her heart rate under control.

His only response was to give her another of his death-mask, eerie grins before walking off toward Narakino's pawn shop. As he stalked away, the crow looked over his shoulder, directly into her eyes, and let out another "caw!" that caused her to jump.

---

Nabiki shivered as Ranma walked away from her. She almost pitied Narakino now. He always relied on a defense attorney from her firm to save him whenever things got too hot for him, legally. "Except now there's a prosecutor coming, but no defense," she said, turning away and walking off. "And if I tried to do anything, I'd just be in the way at best."

Still, there was also something else to consider. Ranma's resurrection could **not** be made public knowledge. If she hadn't known him so well to begin with, she'd have never recognized him when their gazes locked, though, especially considering he **was** dead, so with his 'clown mask' makeup he should be fine in that regard. However, if the ones who killed him knew he'd returned from the grave, they'd most definitely try again.

There was, however, one person she knew who could be trusted with this knowledge, and one she had to consult.

Which was why she was rapping rather soundly on the front door of the Nekohanten well past closing time. Why the Amazons hadn't left when Ranma and Kasumi had married had been obvious—they were holding out hope that Ranma would leave Kasumi for Shampoo. The question was why they hadn't left when the murders had happened.

"'Suddenly, I heard a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door,'" quoted a dry, elderly voice from within as the door finally opened, revealing Cologne. "What do you want, child? Some of us have to sleep, you know—we can't **all** be lawyers, powered by the devil only knows what."

"Very funny, Elder," replied Nabiki, grimacing. "I need to talk to you, and no, it has nothing to do with you needing representation in a legal case. It's something a bit more... personal."

"Fine. I couldn't sleep well anyway. I've been having a funny feeling in these old bones of mine all night."

"You don't say," said Nabiki, smirking darkly as she stepped into the restaurant. Given that there was no sign of purple or white even in the dimly lit dining area, Nabiki assumed that Shampoo and Mousse were still asleep and found herself a seat, joined shortly by Cologne perching on a table.

"Well, child? You obviously have something on your mind, so why not tell me?"

Nabiki cocked her head to the side, trying to determine the best way to put what she had to say. "Do you believe that someone who has passed from this life can be returned to it?" she asked.

Cologne's facial expression darkened considerably, which for her was quite the feat. "Child, no matter how much you may miss your sister, and no matter how much any of us miss Ranma, we will not dip into ancient and forbidden magics to resurrect them," she replied.

"What if they came back on their own?"

"On their... on their own?" now Cologne's reaction was one of terror. "Nabiki, child, do you mean to tell me that one of them has risen from the grave?"

"That depends on what you already know."

"Ever the information broker... Are you familiar with the myth and superstition surrounding the crow?" Nabiki shook her head—occultism had held only a passing interest for her, and only because of the numerology aspects. "The crow is the ferryman for the River Styx. Death's messenger, you could say. They take the souls of those who die and carry them to the beyond."

Nabiki's eyes widened in comprehension. Picking up that thread, she asked, "Does that mean... the crow can also carry them back?"

Cologne nodded gravely. "If a horrible travesty is committed against a soul, that soul will cry out for revenge and be unable to rest. The crow will then take the soul back to the body, which will be immortal and unstoppable until its thirst for blood is sated."

"Im... immortal?" Nabiki was skeptical at best, and terrified at the worst.

"Yes. Immortal. After all... how do you kill something that's already dead?"

---

Ranma scowled as he waited under a light post for 'his' crow to return. "Damn thing just flies off right as I'm feeling lost," he grumbled. He now knew better than most, but not quite to the same level, how Ryoga must feel.

A roaring engine and screeching tires drew his attention, and as he spun to the source of the noise, memories triggered.

_It was a very nice car, Ranma had to admit. A car he wouldn't have minded having himself. He wondered what Kasumi would think if she heard he was thinking of getting a car sometime._

_"Probably agree with me, actually," he murmured. "With the kids coming, I can't exactly have them hopping on the roofs to get to school..."_

_His musings faded into silence as he turned away from the car, walking up to his house and noticing the door slightly ajar..._

That car...

That car!

His expression curling into an ice-cold, murderous glare, Ranma stepped out in front of the car, turning toward it and lifting his head, staring through the windshield and right into the driver's eyes, his white face seeming to glow in the headlights.

Tires screeched again as the woman in the driver's seat tried to stop but failed, sending Ranma tumbling over the hood and into the ground with a thud. He could already feel the injured ribs knitting themselves together rapidly, but laid still as the car's driver door opened and slammed shut.

"You stupid little... you... why'd you jump in front of my car like that, you suicidal jackass!" yelled the woman, her voice familiar. Ranma cracked an eye open, watching as the woman went to inspect the hood of her car. Apparently satisfied, she turned back to him. "You're lucky you didn't bleed on it!" she spat, turning away to get in.

"Is that a fact, miss?" he said, deepening his voice intentionally to set her off guard even as he stood. "You know it's a crime to drive that fast, especially this late."

"See if I care," she replied, spinning with a sudden fluidity and slashing for his face with a knife.

He lazily swung his right hand around, stopping her arm easily, then captured her wrist in an iron grip with the same hand, twisting her arm around behind her back to pluck the knife away from her. "Carrying knives now, are we? You know that's not quite your motif, Ukyo Kuonji," he said condescendingly.

"Fuck you!" screamed the woman, rightly frightened at how easily she'd just been disarmed. "How do you know who I am, huh?"

_"You little bitch," spat Ukyo, shoving Kasumi back into a wall where she was already bleeding from half a dozen cuts. "You just had to go and do it. You had to steal Ranchan. It wasn't enough to marry him. You had to get pregnant with his child, didn't you?!" she roared, driving her knife into Kasumi's arm. "You'll pay. Then he'll pay. You'll **both** pay for this."_

"A year ago," he began, slowly as if to a child. "One year ago, you tortured an innocent woman, a woman who was carrying two innocent children in her belly, a woman whose only crime, in your mind, was taking 'your fiancé.' Then when her husband arrived to stop you, you killed him. Are you following me so far?"

"How the fuck do you know about that?! They're both dead, no witnesses! She never came out of critical condition!" raged Ukyo, struggling against his grip in vain.

"You stole their jewelry. Their wedding bands, her earrings, even a little black metal hoop that she wouldn't have worn, not her style, and he might not wear, too girly. Where are they?"

"I don't know what you're talking about! What jewelry?" pleaded Ukyo desperately, trying to free herself again. She gasped in shock as she was suddenly spun painfully through the air by her one arm and thrown into a wall.

"**WHERE IS THE JEWELRY?!**" he roared at her.

She chuckled despite the pain she was feeling from the impact, tasting blood in her mouth and feeling it dribble onto her chin from biting her tongue. Spitting the blood out, she spoke quietly, making sure he was listening. "We pawned it down at Narakino's of course. We couldn't hold onto that stuff. Her family would recognize it right away."

"Just as I thought," he said.

"Now, why don't you answer a question for me?" she asked. "How's it feel to come so far... only to die?!" she roared, throwing another knife with expert precision.

A flash of silver and a spark of steel on steel showed where he simply deflected it with the knife still in his hand. "Come on, try again. You can do better than that!"

Eyes wide with shock, Ukyo drew two knives at once, throwing them expertly, then drew a handful of shuriken from her sleeves and let them fly immediately behind the knives.

With death's grin on his painted face, Ranma deflected each knife easily, then knocked the shuriken from the air with inhuman speed. His grin widened and was joined by maniacal laughter at the horror and realization on her face.

"No... no... it can't be... you're dead... I saw you die... we killed you...!" she said, backing away from him and trembling. "Ranma... Saotome...!"

"So you finally recognize me, hm? Well, sorry Ucchan. I'm still alive. You, however, were dead since one year ago. You just didn't know it until now." His manic grin never left his face as he stalked closer to her, and her screams of terror and pain were smothered by his vengeful laughter.

* * *

**Post Chapter Notes**

Well, I know someone's going to complain about me turning ol' Ucchan into a villain. It's not the first time people haven't liked something I wrote. It sure won't be the last.

Too bad, so sad.

**Shuriken** - I shouldn't have to explain these, but just in case I do, shuriken are thrown blade weapons that, in the west (you know, America and Europe) are popularized as 'ninja stars.' While the star isn't the only form of shuriken there is, the variety used by Ukyo here were stars.

**Cologne and the crow** - Come _on_. The woman is at least a hundred years old, and the Amazons are three thousand years old. If, as The Crow depicts, the crow really is the ferryman of the dead, they'd know. Now, bets on whether Cologne's crow has already died of old age?


	3. Chapter Two: The Crow Descends

**Karasu**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

I've gotten surprisingly positive reviews about my choice for Ukyo as one of the killers. I was honestly expecting people to loathe that decision.

Well, we'll see how the other decisions get taken.

* * *

Chapter Two: The Crow Descends

* * *

Yuka Shiro grimaced as she looked at the corpse on the ground. As a homicide detective, she'd seen her fair share of nastily defiled corpses, but this one looked very odd to her somehow. "Those knives were put in her while she was still alive," she said, carefully examining the body. "And none of them, not even any of those shuriken, are touching her vitals. Whoever killed her is one sick puppy... they wanted her to bleed to death and made sure it would hurt."

"We got a name?" asked another officer, filing a report.

Yuka nodded, holding a wallet up in gloved hands, with an ID clearly visible. "I know her, too... Ukyo Kuonji. Used to run a small restaurant a few years back," she replied. "Which brings up another note. Kuonji was a martial artist... a good one. Whoever did this to her was **better**."

"How do you know?"

"That's an easy one, Hiroto-kun. Like I said, none of these blades hit a vital point, but **she's** the one who didn't walk away from it."

"Well then, what do you make of that?" asked Hiroto, pointing to the ground.

Yuka grimaced as she glanced again on the drawing of blood on the ground. Ukyo had to have bled quite a bit before dying for a design like that.

"There were some cases like this in Detroit... a vigilante killer who left a motif just like this. It's a crow, by the way," she added, turning toward Hiroto. "Looks like we have a Japanese Crow."

"Fitting," replied Hiroto. "It's one year after we had a Japanese Devil's Night, too."

---

Kiro Narakino was not a particularly rich man by monetary standards. To be sure, he had considerable material possessions in his pawn shop, but he had only enough money to live on with scarce spending outside of his business.

However, Narakino was also not particularly moral, and had no qualms about buying illegally acquired goods to sell. As stated, he was not moral, and also had no qualms about owning a gun despite the illegality of such a possession. As he saw a late-night customer entering his shop, the appearance and feel of this black-clad man had him checking to be sure said firearm was well within reach.

"Hey!" he yelled out, drawing attention to himself. "No pets allowed," he said, pointing to the large crow on the man's shoulder.

Ranma grinned in reply, stepping toward him. "Mr. Narakino, it's so good to finally meet you," he said, fixing his cold gaze into the older man's eyes. "I'd like to purchase something... a rather hot item, pawned here a year ago by an... Ukyo Kuonji. Several hot items in fact."

Narakino checked his gun again. "Don't know a Kuonji," he said, bracing his arms on his counter. "And I don't buy hot items. You're outta luck, friend."

Instantly, hot pain screamed from his hand in a small spray of blood as a knife found its way into the back of his hand, piercing all the way through and pinning him to his counter.

"Lying's a sin you know," Ranma lectured. "So are stealing and murder. You'll never become one with the Buddha with such a naughty tongue. So why don't you cut the shit? Kuonji told me she pawned the things here. One year ago, several earrings, including a black iron hoop, and two gold wedding rings, by Ukyo Kuonji. Sound familiar now?"

"I sold 'em!" spat Narakino desperately, trying to pull the knife out and free himself. "I don't got 'em anymore!" he said. "**AAAGH!**" he screamed as Ranma crushed his hand to grip the knife himself, and Narakino let out another wail of pain as the knife was twisted around.

"Try again!" spat Ranma. "I can tell when you lie! Lying will only hurt you—it's the truth that can set you free."

"I-in the back! There's a small chest! I keep the hot items back there for a year and sell 'em so no one'll recognize 'em!"

**Shnk!**

Narakino slumped to the floor in relief, clutching desperately at his bleeding hand as he was freed, then began groping around in his desk for his roll of bandages. Ignored, Ranma went into the back of the store, finding the chest and opening it. Right on the top was the familiar black hoop he'd bought so long ago.

_"Excuse me, mister!" called Kasumi cheerfully, hanging onto Ranma's arm. "Is the sign out front still true? A free piercing if you purchase something?"_

_"That's right," smiled the man running the jewelry store. "But I see you've already got both ears pierced..."_

_"It's not for me, actually. It's for my fiancé," she said. "I saw something in here that I thought he might like." In direct defiance of her words, Ranma looked **profoundly** uncomfortable in this shop, as if he were afraid someone would see him._

_"Well, just pick out what you were looking for, and we'll bring him on back then."_

"Kasumi," he whispered, picking the black iron hoop up and examining it, before placing it in his ear. He then began rooting through the other trinkets in the chest, tossing aside bracelets, armlets, anklets, rings of every size and variety, until...

...two matching rings... pure yellow gold circles with sparkling diamonds set on them. He remembered them as well.

_"Good morning, sir! Can I help you?" asked the girl behind the display case of rings and other small jewelry trinkets._

_"Y-yeah... I'm... looking for an engagement ring," he mumbled, blushing and tugging at his pigtail nervously. "Something... something special. I can pay, so I'll worry about the cost after I find one that will mean something to her..."_

_"I think... I know just the thing," replied the girl, a twinkle in her eye as she led Ranma to one display in particular._

Flash.

_"Don't open your eyes yet, Kasumi," chided Ranma gently, leading Kasumi through the Tendo dojo's halls. "This is supposed to be a surprise." His girlfriend seemed ready to pop at any second, so he'd have to be quick..._

_"Can I open them yet?" she asked with a slight pout as they entered the living room._

_"Not yet," he replied. "Now stand here, very still," he instructed, leaving her side to retrieve a small black box. Glancing around the room, he locked eyes with his father first, then Mister Tendo, both of whom smiled and nodded. He looked nervously over at Akane, who adopted a pensive expression that soon melted into a sad smile. She nodded as well. Quickly, he moved in front of Kasumi and said, "You can open your eyes now."_

_She did, and gasped, her eyes widening as he began his proposal..._

Ranma quickly dug up a leather strap, looping both rings through it and tying it behind his neck to keep them safe. He then grabbed his knife, standing fluidly and walking back to the front. Just as he crossed the door, however, he found Narakino blocking his path with a rather ugly-looking handgun leveled at him.

"Not another step, clown-boy. It's time for you to take a very long nap," said the older man, squeezing the trigger and unleashing a bullet into Ranma's heart.

Stumbling back from the momentum of the bullet, Ranma was otherwise unfazed, even the pain of the shot failing to affect him. He began chuckling darkly as the wound in his skin sealed shut nearly instantly, revealing him totally unharmed.

"What the sh—" began Narakino, only to cut off in a scream again as the forearm of his already injured hand was sliced by Ranma's knife.

"You've got a special task, Mr. Narakino. I know you know who the rest of Ukyo's little friends were. Find them. Tell them they failed, one year ago. Tell them," he began, his face lighting up in a manic grin, "that Ranma Saotome will be paying them all a visit very soon." Having said so, the white-faced young man strode confidently out the front door, continuing for a comfortable distance before turning and raising his hands toward the store, a flowing black energy building between them.

"Oh **shit!**" yelled Narakino, scrambling for the back to escape through the rear door.

"**Fukushuu Dama!**" bellowed Ranma, unleashing the ball of black light into the front of the store, which promptly detonated in an astounding fashion, gouts of fire reaching out from every opening to the shop. He could still sense Narakino was alive, though. The rat had just barely escaped out the back.

Unconcerned, Ranma turned away, already long gone by the time the police showed up.

---

"Nearly one year ago, Tokyo was consumed in fire and blood," said one news reporter on TV, standing in front of a gutted building that several police officers were combing through. "Now it seems to be beginning again, as two violent crimes have already been reported just this evening."

"That's Narakino's place!" exclaimed Nabiki in shock

"It has begun, then," quietly intoned Cologne.

"A rather well-known local pawn dealer, Kiro Narakino's entire building has been destroyed in an enormous explosion. While there were no deaths here, one recent murder has also been reported. NHK Nerima's Jun Takama is reporting live at that crime scene. Jun-chan?"

"Thank you, Akira-kun," said the pretty young woman as the TV picture changed to her. "Earlier this evening, former restaurateur Ukyo Kuonji was found murdered on the side of the road, very close to what appears to be her car. A prominent martial artist, Kuonji was well known in Nerima for running her okonomiyaki shop, 'The Ucchan.' However, just a few years ago, Kuonji mysteriously closed up shop and vanished... until now." Jun paused as several officers ran by. "I just recently spoke with Detective Yuka Shiro, who had this to say."

Yuka's face appeared on screen, her expression guarded from her experience both on the force and in Furinkan High with Nabiki. "Accidental death being called in this case is impossible. Kuonji is a very high profile martial artist, and each of the weapons was stabbed into her in non-vital locations."

"What exactly does that mean, non-vital?" Jun asked from off-screen.

"The human body has several points that if they're damaged, can render them unconscious or even dead. The heart, the lungs, places like that. There are more points on the body that can be injured or damaged with less risk—your shoulders, your legs and arms for example."

"Is there any other evidence that eliminates the possibility of accidental death?"

Yuka nodded curtly, pointing. The camera changed angle, focusing on the crow drawn in blood.

Nabiki gasped as it came into view. "No... she was one of them...?"

Cologne frowned. "A crow... which means Ranma was involved... so Ukyo was most definitely among those his soul longed for vengeance against."

"Who else could be involved? If Ukyo, one of Ranma's best friends, could be willing to kill him..." Nabiki cut herself off, shuddering at the thought.

"Whoever the killers are... I almost pity them... for Ranma will have none, nor will he have mercy..."

---

His human mind had told him to rest, and his spirit agreed. His desire for vengeance was not sated, would never be sated until they were all as dead as he was, but for now it was quiet.

So Ranma rested in his room.

And he remembered.

_Ranma leaned heavily against the property wall outside of the Tendo dojo, tenderly holding his ribs with one arm. "Damn them," he growled. "Damn Kuno for harpin' about honor when he attacks from behind and damn Mousse for distractin' me for Kuno to do that." Unspoken, however, was his damning himself for allowing their trick to work._

_The mistake had cost him a severely bruised rib. It could just as easily have cost him his life._

_His free hand came up to his mouth as he began coughing, and he felt a wetness grow on his palm, knowing he was coughing up blood. It wasn't too much, he noticed as the coughing fit ended, but he wouldn't be in top form for a week at least._

_"Ranma-kun?" asked a gentle voice, causing him to turn. His vision swam, his eyes fluttering as blackness swirled at the edges of his sight. Kasumi. It was Kasu... "Ranma-kun!" she yelled, dashing forward as the blackness dragged him into unconsciousness._

_When he came to, he felt strange. A bit better than before he'd passed out, actually. When he opened his eyes, though, he didn't quite recognize the ceiling, but when he sat up, he could see why he felt better. He was laying in someone's bed, and someone had apparently wrapped up his abdomen over his injured rib._

_That faint smell... was that Kasumi's perfume...?_

Flash.

_Ranma sighed as he, rather she, sat in the dojo, wet and cold but not quite miserable. Akane was upset about something and refused to let him in the house, and had punted him into the pond for good measure. A shiver ran through her body as she mentally added that it was supposed to be a very cold night as well, almost as cold as some of the nights she'd spent soaked to the bone in China._

_"Stupid tomboy," she mumbled, curling into a ball and shivering again. At least she was still clothed, but she couldn't even go into the house to get a towel or blanket._

_The door leading to the house slid open, allowing in a fresh breeze and one Kasumi Tendo, bearing a towel and futon, plus an extra blanket. "Ranma-kun?" she called, shutting the door behind her and walking over. "Oh, my goodness... You're soaked through!" she fretted._

_"It's n-nothing," replied Ranma, suppressing another shiver._

_"It's not nothing," countered Kasumi, peeling Ranma's shirt off of her before a protest could be voiced. "Out of these wet clothes, now, now!" she ordered. Her face took on what others might have called a frown when Ranma didn't move. "Ranma-**chan**," she said, as if to a child. "If you don't take those wet clothes off now, I'm going to take them off of you myself."_

_Flinching at both the tone and the words, Ranma quickly complied, shedding her remaining clothing and tossing them into a sopping bundle on the floor. Kasumi then passed her the towel, ordering her to dry off, then proceeded to lay out the futon she'd brought. While Ranma continued drying, Kasumi gathered up the soaked clothing. "I'll bring you some dry ones in just a minute," she said, disappearing out the door._

_Despite the awkwardness of the entire situation, and how bleak it had been just a moment ago, Ranma couldn't keep a small smile from forming._

Ranma snapped his head up, coming out of his reverie suddenly, and examining the area around him. There was no one to be found, so why...?

A dull thud, followed by a voice exclaiming several colorful curses answered his question. He stood up to meet his "guest," his sixth sense now able to pinpoint the person's exact location. He could also sense, whoever they were, bore no hostility for him... which meant it wasn't someone Narakino had sicced on him. _Damn._

Eventually, a dark-haired man in heavy white robes limped up to the bedroom doorway, muttering curses with every step of his left foot. Ranma tensed for a moment before remembering something.

_"Mousse?" asked Ranma, quickly removing his hand from Kasumi's before it could be noticed. On instinct, he stepped in front of her protectively._

_"Peace," replied the myopic amazon, lifting his hands as if to give a show of disarmament—which all three present knew was an incredibly silly gesture, but the concept was there. "I'm not here to fight, Saotome. I want a... well, not an alliance per sé, but a truce..."_

_"A truce?" asked Kasumi, feeling confident enough to step out of Ranma's protective zone. Before he could voice an objection, she also captured his hand in both of hers again._

_"Yes... It's not hard to know what you two are doing. Even I'm not that blind," said Mousse with a wry grin. "The girls might be, but they're too bound up by pride."_

_"The point, Mousse?" asked Ranma somewhat coldly, still not entirely trusting._

_"I want to invoke an amazon ritual, the Blood-Brother Oath. It's fairly obscure,but I think even Shampoo and the mummy would have to recognize it."_

_"Gimme a reason I should go through with this? Amazon stuff never seems to end well for me."_

"Saotome," said Mousse, disbelievingly. "You **are** alive again... my blood-brother."

"Blood-brother," Ranma affirmed, nodding a greeting to Mousse. Then he adopted a rather ghastly smirk. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I have information you might want... The reason I wanted the Blood-Brother Oath wais so that, if those people trying to kill you failed and came after me, I could ask you for help... because I very nearly joined them."

"Looks like the tables have turned though," scowled Ranma. "They **did** kill me... but you know who they are?"

Mousse nodded. He blinked, then blanched as Ranma reached toward him, thinking a violent interrogation was coming... and was surprised when he only felt a hand on his forehead.

And then he remembered.

_Ukyo sneered at Mousse. "You want out? **Now?**" she said._

_Mousse nodded silently, not trusting himself to speak._

_"We've been planning this thing for months! Why the sudden cold feet?" she asked, glancing at him suspiciously. "You're not planning on running to him with all our names, are you?"_

_This time, he shook his head, but he did speak this time. "Your plan went from trying to split Kasumi and Ranma apart to killing them both. I won't attack an innocent woman, especially not a pregnant woman. It goes against my personal honor."_

_"Honor? **Honor?**" sneered another woman. "That little bastard doesn't know a THING about honor! Honor should include not hurting the people you care for, and that's exactly what he did!"_

_"My vendetta against him is over," replied Mousse. "I know he won't leave Kasumi and come after Shampoo now. You people have twisted yourselves, perverted what you originally stood for. And it's all the doing of that man you now follow. I won't be a part of this."_

_With that, he turned to walk away._

Ranma grinned as he stepped away from Mousse, causing a shudder to ripple through the living man. "One of them has already paid their dues," he said.

"Ukyo, yeah... It was in the news," replied Mousse, making sure to stay out of arm's length of Ranma.

"Was it, now? What about Narakino's?" As Mousse nodded, Ranma's grin grew just a bit wider. "Good. Well then, it's about time I got back to work, isn't it?" With that, he stepped past his blood-brother, vanishing into the hallway.

As Mousse slumped against the wall in relief, his body released another shudder.

"May the Gods pity those in his path," he murmured.

* * *

**End of Chapter.**

Welly welly well. People wanted flashbacks to show how Ranma and Kasumi came together. No worries, there'll be more. But first, Ranma has his next target.

**Fukushuu Dama** - Literally, "Revenge Ball." Ranma's body no longer generates what could accurately be called "ki." However, there is a very similar force where his ki once was which animates his body. As long as the crow is alive and well, this force constantly cycles and regenerates in Ranma. The Fukushuu Dama is formed in a fashion similar to Ranma's old ki blasts, but is obviously much more destructive. And before anyone asks why he didn't use it on Ukyo—Ranma's soul cried out for **vengeance**. An eye for an eye and all that. He wants the people who killed him and Kasumi to feel every second of the week-long agony that Kasumi went through.

**Blood-Brother Oath** - A pact performed between an Amazon male and an outsider male that involves the blending of blood from open wounds. Part of the pact, of course, creates a pseudo-alliance between the two—as Mousse noted. If either oath-giver asks the other for help, help must be given somehow. In this case, obviously, Mousse was seeking to be able to ask Ranma for help if the group came after him. More about the Blood-Brother Oath will be revealed later.

**Mousse's and Yuka's roles** - Yuka's role here is, obviously, a combination of Detective Torress and Officer Albreicht from the original film. She did no personal investigations into Ranma's death, however. Mousse is a supporting character here, essentially my desire to show that the Amazons had no involvement in the murders.

And that's that. Hope you all enjoyed it. I'll keep writing as long as you folks keep reading and reviewing.

See you next mission.


	4. Chapter Three: Remembrance

**Karasu**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

I sense a desire for angst from my readership. Well, far be it for me to deny you folks anything.

Every night I burn, dreamin' the crow black dream!!

* * *

Chapter Three: Remembrance

* * *

Darkness surrounded her. Darkness was her only comfort anymore. After that grave wrong she had committed a year ago, the darkness was all she had left. She no longer deserved the light. She had murdered two people, in cold blood. And she hadn't even had the decency to admit so to any figures of authority, to the victims' families... She didn't even have the decency to try to honorably atone for the sin.

She had heard it, however... One of her 'partners,' if the word could be used to describe their relationship, had been killed. The pawn shop they had visited after their crime had been razed. Someone was seeking revenge for that atrocity.

They would come for her eventually.

And she would be ready...

---

"Raining again, huh?" mumbled one cursed man as he walked through the falling water. Unlike one's usual expectations of cursed men in the Nerima district of Tokyo, this one was not a shapeshifter due to water-based magic that was upset because the rain meant an invariable change in form.

Well, not anymore he wasn't.

_Probably the one bonus about this whole mess,_ he thought darkly. His curse had once forced him to change into a buxom redhead with the application of water. Now his curse was changed. He was cursed with life.

The man frowned as he contemplated this, his black-painted lips pulling his white-painted cheeks down slightly. _Cursed with life is certainly one way to think of it,_ he mused. _Cursed... until I have vengeance._ His anger burned hotly as he considered it. Considered the murder of his wife, of his unborn children... of himself. _I'll avenge us, Kasumi... I swear I will, or my name isn't Ranma Saotome._

He could sense his target. He was almost there. Just a bit further, in fact. Stopping in front of one building, he glanced at it with a speculative eye. "An apartment housing?" he thought out loud, shaking his head slightly. Well, if this was the place chosen for that person's grave, who was he to judge? Adopting a slightly feral grin, Ranma crouched and sprang, clearing four floors with an ease he had never enjoyed while alive.

Alighting easily on the walkway for the fourth floor apartments that had the questionable luck of facing the streets, Ranma felt his grin widen, threatening to split his face apart as he realized how close he was to another piece of his vengeance. Even as he stalked up to one door in particular, a flutter of wings and a "caw!" indicated the presence of his crow on his shoulder.

Loud music came from beyond the door, so he simply decided to throw stealth to the wind and reached down to the doorknob. Finding it locked, he twisted a bit harder, easily destroying the latch and forcing the door open. Stepping inside and exposing himself to the music—it sounded like that stuff Americans at Tokyo U. had called 'metal,' which Ranma had found he liked a few songs of—Ranma also found he'd exposed something else as two figures in a chair facing the door turned to look at him.

His eyes easily identified the scene, his heart aching at the memories it tugged at him. A young woman sitting in the lap of a young man, not in any sexual manner but merely to enjoy their closeness. Kasumi and he had done that so many times themselves, content to simply feel each other's presence in the embrace.

The young man's eyes had widened in fear as they locked with Ranma's, and for the life of him he couldn't quite figure out why until recognition set in. The woman, however... "What's going on, swee—" she began, turning from her man to face Ranma. His grin turned positively sadistic as fear blossomed on her face as well. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "It can't be. You're dead! You don't just suddenly get up and decide to not be dead anymore!"

"Oh, but **I** do," he replied, stalking forward. "Imagine my luck. One night out of the grave and after dealing with one of you, I get a two-for-one deal! The only problem is..." As he spoke, he approached closer and closer to the pair, who were almost petrified in terror. Finally, he was standing with one foot braced on their chair, leaning down on his knee. "...I just can't decide how I want to kill you now!" he roared, kicking the chair over and sending both people tumbling. The man quickly rolled to his feet with grace and fluidity, but the woman was unable to stop her tumble and slammed into the wall behind her, leaving her stunned.

"Ranma-sama," said the man with a shaky confidence he did not feel, as he reached to the back of his belt. "I am... surprised to see you so well."

"I'm surprised too," replied Ranma, stepping forward and seemingly heedless of the danger presented. "I'm surprised that you're acting your gender. What happened to you? You were so devoted, so in love, and now you're here with her, with... well, not Ukyo... and I remember you from there, too. You helped kill me. In fact, you're the one who shot me first. So what happened to you... genius kunoichi Konatsu?"

"Revenge. Revenge for your slighting Ukyo-sama, for leading her along for so long just to receive free food. I'll never forgive you for that, Ranma-sama."

"Then you don't repent for the crime you committed? That figures." The pale figure seemed quite amused as he stopped, grinning madly at the only male kunoichi he'd ever known. "I think I've just decided how to kill you."

"Then try it!" exclaimed Konatsu, drawing a gun and leveling it at Ranma, firing a quick shot into his stomach.

Rocking back slightly from the force, the reanimated fighter was otherwise unharmed as the small bullet hole sealed up completely. Ranma allowed two more shots before stepping up, grabbing the gun in Konatsu's hand and twisting hard, earning a satisfying snapping noise as the other man's wrist and arm was broken in several places. As his finger's brushed Konatsu's, the ninja remembered his crime.

_Kasumi choked slightly, coughing up a bit of blood as the kunai in her abdomen dug harder into her lung. The blood and her own choking stifled the scream that wanted to come as Ukyo's knife sliced deep into her shoulder. Konatsu could not help but be impressed, though; this girl who was not a fighter stared determinedly at him despite the fact that she had to know she was dying. Even now, she struggled to maintain her life._

_"Kasumi!" roared a voice from the hallway. A voice all present were prepared to hear. Konatsu's eyes widened as Kasumi, despite all the agony he knew she was feeling, managed a triumphant smile at him. Pulling his kunai out of her and earning another grunt of pain, he turned to the bedroom door, drawing out the nine millimeter pistol he'd been given._

_"Don't think he'll be able to save you," spat Ukyo. "Shoot him as soon as he opens the door, 'Natsu."_

_"I... believe... in him..."_

_So shocked that Kasumi still had the strength to speak was Konatsu, that his aim dropped slightly. What was meant to be a head shot turned into a body shot as Ranma broke down the door, holding a ki blast ready. Trembling as he saw the murderous intent blazing in the other fighter's eyes, the ninja took the shot he had, driving a bullet into Ranma's stomach._

_It was, as he discovered when Ranma fired the ki blast at him and rendered him unconscious, not enough._

And then Konatsu was slammed into the floor, his right arm and hand broken terribly. He knew that even if he survived, there was no hope of recovering full use of that arm again. _I suppose I'll have to learn how to use forks and spoons,_ he mused in wonder before he was flipped onto his back, staring up at his opponent.

Ranma continued grinning insanely as he tapped the nine millimeter handgun against his cheek in contemplation. "Now let's see... what are those organs you can live without for a few minutes again? Oh yeah... liver," he began, pressing the gun to Konatsu's abdomen and firing, the bullet ripping through the man's body and spilling blood everywhere. "I think the kidneys too, hm?" he mused, sending two more bullets through the ninja's body, earning screams of pain. "Gallbladder and pancreas, but those are too hard to hit... stomach!" Another shot, another scream.

The black-clad man clicked his tongue as he looked around. "Man, your neighbors are really crappy. All this screaming and the shooting, and no one's even come to see what's wrong. Well now... You're a fighter too, so... hey, how many bullets are in this thing anyway? Feh, should be at least three more, I hope. Or maybe it's five. Well, let's find out. You won't be needing this anymore, right?" So saying, Ranma placed the gun against Konatsu's groin and fired, but this time had his hand over the other man's mouth, stifling the scream. "Ooh, that sounded like a loud one. Well now, two more shots and I'll finish you off."

Konatsu's eyes widened in a mixture of pain and terror as the gun approached his face. _This... this isn't Ranma! It can't be Ranma! He was never this brutal, this violent!_ he thought in a panic, trying to struggle but ending up being too weak due to his wounds. _I'm going to die... This must be my punishment for that sin..._

"You know, I once heard that the worst thing you can do to a fighter is destroy his eyes," mentioned Ranma, almost conversationally. "A man so in tune with his body that he himself is a weapon hates not being able to see his foes. You'll be able to tell me if it's true, won't you? Confide in me after I do this, before you run out of breath, that is." Two more shots rang out in the night, and Konatsu's admittedly weak struggles ceased. "Shucks, I forgot to fire at an angle. Those bullets went right into his brain. Oh well."

He glanced over to the wall, but found nothing. Standing up and spinning, he caught sight of the woman from earlier just before the door slammed shut. Snarling, he charged forward, knocking the door open again and looking around, seeing his prey fleeing for the nearby stairwell. With a preternatural speed, he gave pursuit, catching up and and grabbing her in a headlock just as she reached the landing of the stairs.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she screamed. "You can't be here! You can't! I saw you die! I was there!"

"I know that all too well, Sayuri. Oh, but HOW I know it!"

_Sayuri couldn't believe it. Kasumi was still alive even after all that torture that Ukyo and Konatsu had put her through, and now Ranma was here. "We're doomed," she mumbled under her breath, trembling hands reaching for her gun despite her belief in its futility. "We can't win. We were dead from the moment we started this. Akane's never going to forgive me... not that it matters now. The dead don't exactly need mortal forgiveness, do they?"_

_"We're not dead yet," said Ukyo, readying her own handgun. Both hers and Sayuri's were bigger and uglier models than the one Konatsu had. "Don't think he'll be able to save you," she spat, turning to Kasumi._

_"I... believe... in him..."_

_Sayuri's shock at Kasumi speaking was overridden with terror and desperation as Ranma entered the room. So quickly, Konatsu was removed from the fight. "I have to survive," she whispered in a panic, raising her gun and firing at Ranma. Her eyes widened in absolute fright as he charged at her through the fire she and Ukyo were raining on him. She continued firing even as he rendered Ukyo senseless with a single blow._

_"To hell with this," came a man's voice from the other side of the room. There was a cry of surprise from one of her other companions, which she turned to look at, seeing the man who had brought them together leveling the shotgun that had been given to their fifth ally, another woman. The shotgun barked its report, and Sayuri renewed her own shots against Ranma until he was finally put down._

_"That's what **you** should have done," spat the man, shoving the shotgun back into the woman's hands._

As Sayuri returned to awareness, she felt a painful pressure around her throat and no ground below her feet. _When did we get to the roof?_ she wondered as Ranma held her at arm's length over the ground, six stories below... solid concrete. _I'm sorry, Akane-chan... This is all my fault anyway. I should never have tried to champion you against Ranma..._

"Any last words, murderer?"

Sayuri nodded weakly, and Ranma slackened his grip enough to allow her a bit of breathing. "I'll see you again... in hell," she struggled to whisper, earning Ranma's grin... before he flung her from the roof. _Is this what it feels like to fly...?_ she wondered distantly, before she felt an impact... and then she felt and saw no more.

Turning away, Ranma listened quietly, hearing the chatter of people finally deciding to investigate all the noise. A screech of horror pierced the night sky as one woman apparently discovered Konatsu's mutilated body, and another joined it as a second woman must have seen Sayuri's body on the ground.

"Two more... and now I know who they are," he whispered, leaping from the roof and landing on another, making for his new destination, where Sayuri's memory showed the last woman who'd taken part was now isolating herself.

Overhead, the crow followed him, letting out a resounding "caw!"

---

She trembled in fear. She could feel his presence approaching, a blackness even against the darkness she surrounded herself with. His very being was stifling, even though he was not yet here. Or perhaps that was her guilt stifling her, the remorse of her actions that day.

"I shouldn't have been there... and now he's coming for me..."

She looked up as she heard the door to her isolated 'home' cave inward from his entrance.

Her lips curled into a sad smile as she stood to greet him. Her hand went to her waist, drawing forth a beautifully crafted longsword from its sheath. As his feet tapped out her death knell, growing closer, she stepped forward, raising her sword.

"I was waiting... I'm ready for you, Ranma."

Ranma blinked at the woman as he found the hilt of her sword being offered to him. Of all the reactions he'd seen and expected, offering him her sword was not among them.

"Hello, Kiima," he said. He reached forward, but stopped. "Why?"

"To repent," she replied, closing her eyes as her hand touched his.

_"This isn't right," protested the warrioress, watching her so-called allies torturing Kasumi. "This was supposed to be my vengeance against Saotome for harming my lord... You said we would be fighting him, not murdering him! There was no mention at all of his wife and children!"_

_"Well, it's a bit too late for you to say that, now isn't it? You agreed to help us kill Ranma Saotome, so now you have to do it," replied the man who had "united" them. Kiima's craw threatened to rise at the mere thought of following this man any further. She had to do something..._

_"Kasumi!" roared a voice from outside. Saotome's voice. She suddenly froze into inaction, knowing for a fact that she would die here. No matter what action she took, Ranma would see her among the murderers of his wife, and he had slain the phoenix king Saffron, who himself had the power to destroy an entire mountain. The weapon they'd given her and taught her to use, the bulky thing that spat metal and fire, lay unmoving in her hands._

_Suddenly, it was snatched from her, and she cried in surprise and tried to retrieve it._

_Too late, she noticed, as that man fired it twice into Saotome—once into his back, once into his front. All too quickly, this mighty warrior was brought low. The weapon was quickly thrust back into her hands, still smelling of smoke and death._

_"That's what **you** should have done," spat that man, turning back to the matter at hand._

_Horrified, Kiima dropped the weapon and fled the room, knowing that merely by being there, she had committed a grave sin. She was tainted, impure. Unworthy. Lord Saffron, Saotome, no one would ever be able to forgive her. She had been there and done nothing to stop those murderous beasts._

_It was too late for her now. All she could do was wait for death._

"I see," said Ranma, taking the sword. It gleamed and flashed, and Kiima braced herself for... for... a sudden, sharp, and otherwise insignificant cut on her cheek. "Your actions have been paid for."

"Wh... what?" she murmured, reaching up to the stinging cut. Touching at it, she glanced at her fingers and found a very minor amount of blood. She'd had splinters from her training that caused more serious injuries than that. "What do you mean?"

"Your own repentance for your actions... or inaction, I guess... has done more to cause you pain than any revenge I could seek, Kiima," replied Ranma, offering back her sword. "Take it... and seek forgiveness from the Tendo and Saotome clans, and then from Saffron and his court. Don't seek your death at my hands—instead, live."

As Kiima's tremulous fingers took back her weapon, she felt hope for the first time in a year. A small light shone in the darkness... and for the first time, she welcomed it instead of shunning it.

She never noticed as Ranma silently left. _Can redemption truly be mine?_ she wondered.

* * *

**Post-chapter Author Ranting Thing**

Yeah, I know, it's a shorter chapter. But to make up for it, I made it bloodier. My original plan involved Sayuri getting the violent torture and Konatsu being given the quicker death, but I decided to swap it around.

**Sayuri** - Sayuri's role is the only one I feel didn't get a proper explanation in the story, and there's no real way to get it out of her now. Instead, I feel it's better for you, the reader, to decide her motivations in the murder.

**That man** - That man, that man...! Heh. I'm going to have fun revealing who it is.

**Kiima** - Why didn't Ranma kill her? It should be obvious. If it's not, consider Eric Draven's original objective. It wasn't **just** about vengeance.

Well, that's all! See you next mission.

P.S. For the inattentive, I've got a forum set up here on FFnet, but it's largely inactive. It's there for you, readers, to talk to each other (if you want) or contact me (maybe) about my fanfics and receive public answers! If I don't see any activity between today and the beginning of August, though, I'm closing it down.

Now, see you REALLY next mission.


	5. Chapter Four: Rain Forever

**Karasu**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

After listening to a bit of Evanescence (most specifically, Snow White Queen), I found myself in the mood for angst.

Well, here goes.

* * *

Chapter Four: Rain Forever

* * *

"So it's true?" asked Shampoo in her native Mandarin, speaking with her great grandmother as Nabiki slept in one of the upstairs rooms of the Cat Café. "Ranma, Mousse's blood-brother, has really come back to life?"

Cologne nodded, a nod which Mousse joined as he approached from upstairs. "Nabiki's sound asleep. She must have been up half the night."

"She was waiting for any new news regarding murders," replied Cologne. "Morning rush won't be here for another two hours, let's go see." She began pogoing over to the still active television set.

"Ranma... is beyond my reach, isn't he?" asked Shampoo as she moved to sit next to Cologne and the man she was coming to see as more than just the blind duck-boy.

"Child... Ranma has become a revenant. An undead creature animated purely by will alone, and bent toward a single task: vengeance. All Ranma cares about now is vengeance on those who, in his mind, dared attack his wife, his unborn children, and himself," was the matriarch's reply as she focused her attention on the TV.

---

Ranma frowned deeply. This was not a new expression for the revivified martial artist, but it was certainly a bad one. There was something wrong. He was so close to his revenge, so why did it seem like there was going to be a problem?

The razor-like projectile slicing through his side, spraying his blood everywhere, likely had something to do with it. Ranma had a bare moment to recognize the yellow and black bandanna before his assailant was on him with a cry of "MURDERER!" And that was when Ranma realized this was going to be a very hard fight to win, even with his undead strength.

Ukyo's knives had done nothing, having lost her pride as a warrior years ago. Konatsu's cold, unfeeling gun would only work on the living. But this man, this man of power and skill, had lost none of his warrior's spirit over the last few years.

"I saw what you did... you white-faced bastard!" growled none other than Ryoga Hibiki, slamming his fist into Ranma's face. "Wasn't it enough to win your fight against Ukyo? You couldn't stop there, you just had to carve her up like some kind of meal?! And then throwing Sayuri, not even a fighter, off a roof? I'm going to kill you!"

"You're a year too late for that," growled Ranma, driving his fist forward into Ryoga's gut. As the lost man doubled over from the hundred fists that had made their home in his belly, the revenant cocked his arm back and slammed his elbow into Ryoga's face. Bone and cartilage cracked under the force, sending Ryoga stumbling back with blood flowing from his crushed nose.

Undaunted, Ryoga blinked to clear his vision, then rushed forward to grapple with his foe, gripping the smaller man's hands and squeezing them. "I'm not going to be beaten by a reckless killer like you! I'm not letting something like last year happen again!"

"I've waited in the cold earth for my revenge, I've slept for a year and waited to avenge it all, and I won't be stopped by anyone!" returned Ranma. "Least of all, by you!" His hands tightened, bones snapping like fireworks as he crushed Ryoga's hands in his own. Before he could truly cripple Ryoga, the lost boy drove his knee into Ranma's stomach, then again, and again, forcing him to let go due to the strain on his ribcage.

_Strain, hell!_ realized the revenant, taking new stock of his mending, but serious injury. _He broke at least five!_ Fortunately for Ranma, he was healing. Ryoga was not. Or, at least, not nearly at the same rate. For the very first time, Ranma had the complete advantage in strength, speed, and endurance. _But I know better than anyone how fast that can change... Ryoga sure hasn't been slacking off this past year. And I know just how well he can surpass human limits._

"A year... it's been a year," mumbled Ryoga. "But I know those moves. And I know that voice. But you, my friend, are **dead**. What the hell are you doing up on your feet?" asked the lost man, raising his eyes to glare at Ranma, recognition and suspicion in his eyes.

"Revenge," replied Ranma, standing up straight as his ribs continued mending. "All those people I killed took part in my murder. I intend to pay them back with interest. Once I've done that... I can rest."

Ryoga paused, considering that. "And what about any innocents who stand in your way?"

"Not my problem." Ranma shifted his stance, stopping Ryoga's angry kick cold. "Let me rephrase. They're not an issue. Anyone who actually would get in my way wouldn't be innocent... except maybe the police. And they're not a pro—"

"Don't move, clown-face!" a voice, female, barked. Ranma and Ryoga both turned, seeing a woman in a police uniform pointing her service pistol at him. "Both of you lay flat on the ground and put your hands behind your backs!"

Ranma grinned his death grin at the officer. "But you just told us not to move," he protested. He only grinned wider as she growled at him. Still grinning, he knelt down, laying flat on his belly with his hands resting on his back. Some shuffling told him Ryoga was doing the same, though he could hear the lost boy groaning as his injuries protested the move.

"Alright then," the officer mumbled, stepping forward and holstering her pistol. She pulled out a white cloth. "Let's see who the man behind this would-be mask is. You know there's a lot of witnesses saying **you** were seen leaving the area after Ukyo Kuonji's murder?" Ranma growled at the mention of the name... or perhaps that it was called a murder. "There's some saying you were around Konatsu and Sayuri Hanako's apartment for their murders." Again, Ranma growled softly, but the officer paid it no mind as she begin wiping the grease paint from his face. Suddenly, skin touched skin...

_"Akane-chan, I'm so sorry," Yuka said, tears in her eyes as she held her best friend. She couldn't believe it... Ranma? Dead? And Kasumi too? How could anyone do such a thing? Kasumi had no enemies, and she had twins on the way, too... and while Ranma had enemies in plenty, how many would have gone so far?_

_Shampoo was present as well, sobbing and clinging to Akane like a life preserver. One could hardly imagine, a year ago, two years ago, these two being anything but bitter enemies, rivals for a boy who grew up and found someone else as they bickered. Now they stood, united in their love for that man who had passed on, and the wife and unborn children who had shortly followed. United in their love... and their grief._

_Yuka shared that grief, having grown to love Ranma and Kasumi in her own way. And now they were gone..._

_Gone..._

Gone... but...

"H-How?" mumbled Yuka Shiro, homicide detective, as she stared disbelievingly at the familiar face of one Ranma Saotome, three hundred fifty-nine days dead. "Y-You... You both died... I... I became a detective so I could try to stop cases like yours..."

"Death will not stop my path of vengeance." Ranma stood up, and Yuka did nothing to stop him, in shock as she was. "Yuka... Tell her... tell Akane... that I'm sorry I couldn't protect Kasumi. And tell her... that Kasumi's death has almost been avenged."

"Caw!" the bird sounded, fluttering in and landing on Ranma's shoulder, its piercing gaze staring into Yuka's eyes.

"A crow...? Wait, you mean—?"

He nodded. "Yes. Ukyo, Sayuri, Konatsu... All shared their part in torturing and killing my wife and children. There was another... but her part was inaction, and she's suffered so much grief of her own making..." Ranma shook his head. "Death isn't her punishment. Life is." He then glanced up. The sky was beginning to get light. "Daylight... Not the time for creatures like me," he mumbled. He turned and began walking back to his home.

"Wait!" Yuka stepped forward. "I... I know I can't stop you, Ranma, but... is this really the only way?"

"None of them held any regret or desire to redeem themselves except for Kiima. If they had... they might have lived." Ranma crouched, then leaped, easily alighting on the roof of a nearby home. With his next jump, he was gone.

Yuka turned away, reluctantly, and saw the man Ranma had been fighting with when she showed up. "Ryoga? Oh my God, are you alright?! We have to get you to a hospital!"

"I'll be fine," the lost boy assured her, picking himself up. "I've taken worse than this. You go deliver that message to Akane-san. I'll try to find where Ranma went off to." Without waiting for her to protest, and not listening when she did, Ryoga jumped... and landed on the house in the opposite direction of where Ranma went, bounding off in the completely wrong way.

Yuka stared, but decided there was nothing for it, turning to get back in her car. Her shift would be over by the time she got back to the precinct anyway, though she'd have to stay a little late to file her report from Konatsu's apartment. After she was done, then she could come pay Akane a visit.

---

Nabiki yawned tiredly as the news finally changed from its constant repetitions of what she'd heard an hour ago. Apparently, some new news was finally in.

**Crow Murderer!** declared the sidebar. The news anchor was a young woman, staring fixedly at the camera as she spoke, undoubtedly led by a prompter.

"Late last evening, the body of restaurateur Ukyo Kuonji was discovered with numerous stab wounds, apparently having bled to death from a multitude of otherwise non-fatal injuries. Discovered near her body was a gruesome graffiti depicting a crow in flight.

"Detective Yuka Shiro was assigned to the case from the local police precinct, and had the following comments on the scene."

Nabiki rolled her eyes as clipped reels of Yuka's commentary and interview with the reporter Jun were played. Then the anchor—a woman named Misao, Nabiki idly noted—returned.

"Earlier this morning, just a couple hours before dawn, two more bodies were found. Regrettably, while we do not have live footage of the event, one of our reporters was quickly on the scene and interviewed the detective in charge," Misao reported. The screen changed quickly to the image of another woman, Nabiki not even bothering to notice her name, talking with Yuka.

"Are you certain that this is related to Kuonji-san's killing earlier?" the reporter asked, holding her microphone to the weary-looking detective.

"Quite certain. The methods are quite different, but the common link is there."

"What were the causes of death?"

Yuka frowned, and Nabiki could see she was thinking about it. The coroner would have probably gotten a report by now, but when this was filmed... "I can't say anything for certain at this time, but it appears that Sayuri Hanako-san was killed when her skull impacted the ground from a considerable fall, which we believe to have been from the rooftop of her apartment. Her husband, Konatsu Hanako-san, was apparently killed by a nine millimeter bullet to the brain."

"And what's the apparent link?"

"Numerous." This time Yuka could speak confidently. "Konatsu-san and Kuonji-san worked together in Kuonji-san's okonomiyaki shop in Nerima, and Sayuri-san lived in the same district and went to school with Kuonji-san. Even without that, there was the image of a crow carved into the floor of the rooftop."

"What makes you so sure this isn't someone attempting to pin these two new murders on Kuonji-san's murderer?"

"Fingerprints. The knives used on Kuonji-san and the handgun used on Hanako-san share the same fingerprints. The investigative headquarters is currently comparing the prints with those on file in an attempt to discover the culprit."

Nabiki snorted, tuning out the broadcast. _Sayuri was one of the killers too? Hard to believe,_ she thought to herself. _Konatsu is a bit easier to believe... almost... I wonder how the police will respond to the fact that the prints belong to a man who's been dead for a year?_

"Nabiki-san, it's getting... well, early. We'll be opening up soon. Would you like to go upstairs to rest or keep watching?" Mousse asked, polite and calm as he stepped out of the kitchen.

Nabiki considered it quietly. "No. I'll have a pork ramen breakfast deluxe for three, to go," she said, pulling out her wallet.

"On house!" chirped the voice of Shampoo as she bounded down the stairs. "Nabiki-san do so much for us at Cat Café, it the least we can do, yes?"

Cologne hopped out of the kitchen on her staff, giving a knowing smile and a nod to Nabiki. "Well, if you insist," mumbled the attorney quietly, putting her wallet away.

"We make it for five, and I join you. News so depressing this morning, it be good to get outside for a while," added Shampoo, heading to the kitchen with a swish of her hair.

"For five?"

"Old adage among the tribe," explained Cologne. "When making food, always make more than you really think you need. You may suddenly have guests, or perhaps someone may be extra hungry."

"That makes sense... Oh! I'd better call Daddy and tell him I'll be bringing breakfast home," she said. "He's probably worried that I've stayed out so late anyway." She whipped out her cell phone, dialing her home phone number.

'Hello?' came a girl's tired voice.

"Akane? I'm sorry, sis, I didn't wake you, did I?"

'Not really, Nabiki... I just didn't sleep well. Feels like there's something wrong out there. Why didn't you come in last night?'

"I got caught wandering and ended up spending the night at the Cat Café. Shampoo and I will be coming over with breakfast soon, so go ahead and tell Daddy not to worry."

'Okay, sis... Tell Shampoo-chan I said "hi" and that I'm sorry for not getting a chance to stop by lately.'

"Will do, Akane. See you in a bit. Bye." _Shampoo-_**_chan_**_, is it?_

'Bye.' **Beep!**

Nabiki flipped her phone shut, slipping it back into her pocket as Shampoo walked out of the kitchen with a large takeout box in hand. "Akane says 'hi,' and that she's sorry for not being able to visit."

"Is okay. I ask why at breakfast, though wish she wait long enough for me to say hi, too," Shampoo replied. "We go now, yes? Akane-chan and father be too-too hungry, and Nabiki-san need much sleep."

Nabiki nodded, stifling another yawn. "Let's go," she said through her hand, leading the lovely warrior out the door.

---

Ranma sat on his destroyed bed, sadly staring at Kasumi's journal in his hand. He remembered the day she suggested they start keeping them as if it were yesterday.

_It had already been a day since Ranma had put his ring on Kasumi's finger, but Ranma still couldn't believe it. His father didn't dare disturb Kasumi's sleep by attacking him for their morning exercises—a Kasumi who was too tired to fix breakfast meant Akane might end up cooking instead!—so Ranma had plenty of early morning before his new fiancée would wake up in order to enjoy watching her peacefully sleeping face._

_They hadn't done anything "improper" the night before, just lay together in each other's arms. But somehow, it was more restful than any sleep Ranma had ever had._

_Kasumi stirred suddenly, her eyes fluttering open. They focused on him, and she smiled beautifully. "Good morning," she said._

_"Good morning," he said, smiling back and leaning in to give her a quick kiss. Nothing like the kiss she'd given him for his proposal, or the one they'd shared on their first date, which had come complete with the thrill of hiding from Shampoo, Ukyo, Akane, Kodachi, and for some reason, Pantyhose Taro._

_Not that they'd been able to hide it after their first month together, of course..._

_Kasumi sat up, seeing the wistful smile on his face. "As long as you're reminiscing, dear," she said in her best matter-of-fact tone, "I have a present for you." She reached over to her nightstand, opening a drawer. "I had them made yesterday... They were going to be a surprise gift, but you sprung your surprise on me and I forgot all about them."_

_Ranma's curiosity was piqued, so he sat up, looking curiously at his fiancée. She quickly turned around, holding a blue book to her chest and holding out a red one to him. On the cover was simply his name, "Ranma," written in very stylized Roman lettering. He took the book quietly and opened it, seeing nothing but a blank page of note-paper, and at the top a small box with "Date:" inside of it._

_"A journal?" he asked, closing it and looking up._

_Kasumi nodded. "From what I've seen, the biggest difficulty many couples face is a lack of communication... so I had an idea. We keep journals, writing in them each day just before bed... Then, at the end of the week, we show our journals to each other."_

_Ranma smiled. "That's a great idea, Kasumi. Let's start with them tonight, okay?"_

Ranma sighed. The day of Kasumi's murder was two days into the week, so there were two journal entries he hadn't seen yet, but he was more interested in rereading what he'd already seen. He turned to the first page.

_Date: September 17th, Heisei 2_

_Dear diary, (that feels so trite, but I doubt Ranma will mind)_

_He thinks it was a good idea! I'm so excited! I really would have written this entry on the 16th, except that he proposed! Ranma Saotome, the wild horse himself, proposed to me! I couldn't have been happier!_

_Oh! The good idea! I gave Ranma a journal as a gift, and suggested that we use them to improve our communication with each other by showing each other our journal entries each week. And he liked the idea!_

_I'm sure this will help us with any pesky issues of that nature._

_I love him so much... In the two years I've known him, he's grown so much. At the very least, he's not the immature, brash, arrogant young man who showed up out of nowhere with my father saying he was our new fiancé anymore. He's **my** immature, brash, arrogant young man. It isn't that I own him... Ranma can never be owned._

_But it still feels like he's mine. And I'll fight if I have to to keep him! Hya!_ (Ranma briefly chuckled at the little sketch Kasumi drew of herself throwing a punch and, apparently, knocking out Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyo all at once.)

_I don't think I'll have to fight, though. Ranma is free to choose who he likes, and it's him, not me, who they should worry about angering by not accepting his decision._

_Ranma isn't the nicest person I know, nor the smartest, strongest, or sweetest. But he's honest. And he's always kept his word when he's given it. And he genuinely tries to be a better person._

_And that's what really counts._

_Kasumi Tendo_

_P.S. I forgot to mention! I finally worked up the courage to... to "play" with him in his female form today. Goodness, that was an experience. I'm not sure I'll forget it any time soon... and I know I'd certainly rather not._

_It wasn't as nice playing with her as it was with him..._

_...but it was still nice._

_-K_

Ranma smiled, tears in his eyes, as he traced his finger over the cursive _K_ Kasumi had used to sign her postscript. He remembered that "play." Nothing too overt... but nothing to give details about for the guys at Toudai. Hands had certainly been wandering that day. He turned to the next page, the first entry having taken up nearly four pages.

_Date: September 18th, Heisei 2_

_Dear diary,_

_Kodachi found out about the engagement today. It was frightening... She attacked me, in front of Ranma, in front of Akane, in front of our fathers... I've never seen Ranma so furious. After Kodachi's ribbon nearly hit my face, he grabbed her and dragged her out into the backyard... Uncle Saotome warned me not to look, and I didn't._

_When he came back inside, Ranma went directly to the kitchen, hiding his hands until after he'd washed them. I don't think he knew I saw the blood under his fingernails when I followed him until I questioned him about it. He wouldn't tell me what he did, only assuring me that Kodachi would never return to the Tendo dojo, but that she was still alive._

_I hope he doesn't describe what he did in tonight's entry in his journal..._

_On a happier topic, after Kodachi was dealt with, we went to the market together, and Ranma taught me some of his... or rather **her**... tricks for getting exceptional deals from the vendors. I hadn't shown so much skin since the time we went to the beach! But it was still kind of fun..._

_We met Yuka when we went to the supermarket for a few other things, and she congratulated us on the engagement. We asked about Sayuri, but apparently there had been a falling out between them._

_Yuka was doing quite well, though. We didn't find out until we were nearly leaving that it turned out she was working at the supermarket as the assistant general manager! That was a little embarrassing, worse when she told Ranma that, yes, she **did** in fact see him grab those pieces of candy behind her back and expected him to pay for them._

_I think I've been teaching Ranma too well. He was still in female form and put on her best pouting face toward me, and I found myself paying for the candies before I realized what I was doing. I'll have to find some way to get him back for that._

_I think I'll surprise him with a bit more "girl-play" tonight after I'm done with this. Teach him to bring a glass of water to bed with him!_

_Kasumi Tendo_

Again, Ranma smiled. Kasumi had done just that, though things had... gone a little further than play. Definitely not something he ever gave details to others about! He closed the journal, then blinked in confusion as he saw a drop of water land on the cover. He realized... _I'm... I'm crying... _He leaned over, laying face down on his destroyed bed, buried in his pillow and remembering...

_Kasumi trailed a finger lightly over Ranma's body, causing the redhead to squirm under her touch. "Play time," she whispered lovingly._

Flash.

_"Congratulations, you two!" Yuka cheered with a smile. "I couldn't be happier for you!"_

Flash.

_Ranma sat at the table, next to his fiancée, his pen scratching quickly over the journal she'd given him just that day. It was a great idea, and he'd be damned if he let it waste._

Flash.

_Kodachi whimpered in pain as Ranma let his nails dig into her arm enough to make her bleed. "Stay away from Kasumi. Stay away from me. Stay away from this dojo. Is that clear?" he growled. When she didn't respond immediately, he grabbed her other arm with the tight, almost-clawing grip. "Is that **clear?!**"_

_This time, Kodachi nodded very quickly. Good... Kasumi would be safe then..._

Flash.

_Kasumi's lips brushed softly over her neck, and Ranma shivered at the feel. It was a completely different sensation than every "necking" session they'd done with him as a guy... and the sensation of a feather-light touch over her body was almost divine..._

Ranma sobbed into his pillow, soaking it with his tears. "Kasumi," he cried, repeating the name like a mantra into the pillow.

On the roof, his crow cawed.

* * *

**Post Chapter Notes**

Normally, I'd use this segment to explain a few things that happened in the chapter that probably won't be explained by the rest of the story.

Normally.

I would here, except that I plan on things being explained in the next chapter anyway. So HA!

See you next mission.


End file.
